Most Islamist movements, including Hamas, adopt an ideological principle that does not separate between religion and state, because Islam addresses society’s issues, be they political, social or economic. This has given the mission of these movements a comprehensive character.

In their meetings, the Muslim Brotherhood reiterate the idea that their founder, Hassan al-Banna, uttered: “Islam’s teachings are comprehensive. They encompass the affairs of the people in this world and the next. Islam is a faith and a ritual, a nation and a nationality, a religion and a state, spirit and deed, holy text and sword.”

But the Islamist Ennahda movement in Tunisia, which is one of the largest Islamist movements, issued a historical decision May 9 to separate political work from religious activities, to focus on politics and for preaching to be limited to civil societies.

The decision raised important questions on the goal behind it. Why now? Is Ennahda scared to face the same fate as the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, after the Egyptian army’s coup against it in July 2013?